The Last Wish (IC)

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action

No sooner had Rose crossed most of the intervening distance than the short mercenary leaped onto the conveyor belt and readied herself to pick off incoming blows. The bandanna brothers were less cautious, moving in to confront her immediately. Their teamwork was impeccable, their timing acceptable... but the Harvester was just faster. Roselyn leaped above the first's sweeping kick, then spun to plant her dagger into the second as he tried to throw her into a nearby pit.

Up on the higher catwalk, the bland man cast a spell and stalked slowly toward the group. Das and Haagen each drew a potion, the captain planting his foot on a higher console to drink it as he watched the proceedings.

And all throughout, the machinery began to grumble and move. First the silver conveyors, then the bronze pushed bits and pieces of constructs about. Just before the brothers made their move, the massive pressers and cutters came down with a definitive *THOOM*.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Navalan
Level 9 Shaman
HP 75/75 | AC: 21| Attack: -- | Status: Ant Haul (8 hours)

As battle was joined, Navalan called, this time in an entirely serious voice.

"For the record, I've never blown up any Bennin Gerise!"

Then, dodging anything suspicious looking, he made his way across the workshop.

I need to get closer before I can use my powers on them. I don't want to expend too many spells, not this early in the day.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Double move to the place indicated on the map.

[Tychris1]

"THE BOOMING OF THE OLD WORLD! THE RUSH OF BATTLE! HON HON HON I LIVE FOR THIS!" Marquis bellowed as he surged forward on newly hastened feet, his tower shield fabricated into existence and brought aloft before him.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Double move as shown on map

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action/Enemy Action Round 2

The archer up in the control booth, having taken a moment to assess whether he was truly willing to engage with the Lunarian prince a second time, ultimately decided that filing his two weeks notice with Captain Haagen now would not be a wise career move. Still, he was aware that Lucien could cut his arrows down just as easily now as before and sought a different target, finding it in the cluster of rogues slightly to the north. An arrow shot out and found its mark in Roselyn, though he was too far away, with too much in between them, to land the kind of devastating hits that he specialized in.

Meanwhile, magic washed over the pair in the lead. Roselyn shook it off, but Lucien's vision and mind clouded, jumbling friend and foe while a cacophony of twisted metal screeching overwhelmed his thoughts.

And while that was going on, the lasers fired, cutting whatever bits and pieces of constructs were before them into new shapes. In parts of the floor, the assembly of certain constructs finished and clock men rose, would up and ready for action. One retreated toward Captain Haagen while the rest rushed for new targets.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Roselyn takes 6 damage from the arrow. Lucien is confused, as per the condition, and will perform the following action on his turn:

(1d4)[2]

If 1: Act Normally
If 2: Babble incoherently.
If 3: Attack self for (1d8)[3] plus strength damage.
If 4: Attack nearest creature.

Being confused, Lucien treats all creatures as enemies but cannot take AoOs unless he is 'locked on' to one. Locking on will occur if Lucien is subjected to an obviously hostile action by any creature and will then act as though he rolled a 4 vs. that creature for the following round.

[Othniel]

Morwen

"Mind the clockwork people - they may have nets!" With that warning out of the way, Morwen attempted to make herself invisible and moved closer to the action.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Morwen casts invisibility and moves to her current location.
Failure chance (fails on 1-10): (1d100)[27]

[Nefarion Xid]

"I like grapes! There aren't enough triangles in this beige! I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant to say. That horse failed calculus!"

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action Round 2

The crew of the Bennin Gerise cared not for the academic performance of Lucien's mount, and as Rose advanced, they made their own moves. The mage on the catwalk, quiescent so far, cast another spell and apparently split into five copies of himself. The mercenary forest folk woman hustled to catch up with Roselyn, the man with the yellow bandanna fell back and drew a potion, while his brother skirted the pits and lashed out with a foot. Lucien reflexively put his sword through it, but momentum carried the strike through and forced him back and down, into the pit behind him. He fell a few dozen meters, but strangely found his head cleared on the way - the product, he surmised, of an automated system in place to purge lingering magical effects from defective parts.

The landing, however, was still less than gentle. Jagged refuse filled the massive, possibly extra-dimensional chamber Lucien now found himself in, though the thin beams of light coming from the factory floor above showcased a room that was at least attempting to be Euclidean. The walls were clear and showed much of the under workings of the bottom of the Maverick Vault, though the opaque nature of most of the other rooms kept their contents a mystery. Far more disturbing was the spire of machinery, visible through the clear wall at one corner and extending for hundreds of meters down, that seemed to nearly pulse with power. It was also letting off smoke, steam, and the occasional spark in a way that suggested that it was not entirely up to code. Even as Lucien watched, a particularly ferocious spark snapped across the massive device and a piece fell away, accompanied by the loud groan the group had heard when Haagen had started the factory up again.

Another quick examination of the room revealed numerous corpses, including many a skeleton impaled upon a jagged spire of debris, fleshless face staring with a betrayed expression at a ring of Feather Fall still wrapped around one bony finger, no doubt sent plummeting to ruin when passing through the dispel effect.

High above, First Mate Das drew and drank another potion. Captain Haagen drew his second potion as well, but paused to fiddle with the controls. "Blasted thing reset when we shut it off. C'mon, where're the soldiers? Ah, there we go."

[Tychris1]

"LUCIEN!" Marquis cried out as he saw the confused Prince stumble backwards and plummet down the hole "HONORLESS CUR, YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT! FEEL THE BURNING WRATH OF MY CHIVALRY!"

Rushing to the center of combat, Marquis thrust his enchanted sword above him, and roared out a word in an Old Kingdom tongue that even he didn't understand. The entire blade pulsed with dark power, the ancient words scrawled across it glowing a bright white, and all of the energy converged at the tip of the blade before diffusing out in a massive radius around him that wracked the flesh and soul.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move to space and then Channel Negative Energy (DC 18 Will Save) for (5d6)[16]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Navalan
Level 9 Shaman
HP 75/75 | AC: 21| Attack: -- | Status: Ant Haul (8 hours)

Just a little longer, everyone.

Continuing to rush forward, Navalan at last found himself in the center of the action.

Now it's just a matter of hoping they don't come after me long enough to hit them.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Because of Haste, Navalan triple-moves. Also, I would like to make a relevant knowledge roll for constructs, please and thank you Jade. My Arcana mod is +6.

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action - Round 2|3

The archer fired upon the approaching rogue again, though the machinery and, well, being a bad shot fouled his aim. No sooner had the arrow gone whizzing high over Rose's head, though, than the incredible happened. Stepping out from between two pressers, a skeletal figure in a black robe and hood slowly turned to face her and drew forth a wicked-looking scythe. With a swing that sent the hourglass hanging from its frayed rope belt bouncing, the heavy black blade passed through Rose... and did nothing, as her brain had worked out by this point that the anthropomorphic personification of death was alien not only to this Realm, but all of the folklore she'd ever heard of.

High above, the raven haired woman invisibly pouted at this disrespect for the classics.

The clock men, on the other hand, got busy. Three of them moved to get around Marquis and all of them deployed nets. The first missed, the second was deflected by his reflexive block, but the third ensnared him as intended. Whether being connected to the blackguard via synthetic rope was a particularly bold strategy or a tactical blunder remained to be seen, of course.

The other three on the main floor went after the speedy shaman, and the first fired wildly upon him, only to miss outright. The second one - displaying remarkably complex pre-set instructions, if that's what it was truly running on - threw the third into range for a second net shot that managed to bag the caster.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Marquis and Navalan are now Entangled. Per the net rules, they must win an opposed strength check to move more than 10' away from their respective net holders.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Ow..."

Perhaps it was best to let his opponents assume he was taken out of the fight. Lucien said nothing as he righted himself debris and fumbled for the potion on his belt.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

I guess I'm standing, drawing a potion of infernal healing (and drinking it?) and that's it.

[Othniel]

Morwen

Dashing southeast (and eyeing the big robot warily), Morwen produced a piece of fur and a glass rod, rubbed vigorously, and (hopefully) let loose with a lightning bolt.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Prescience: (1d20)[19]
Lightning Bolt! (9d6)[28] electricity damage. DC 21 Reflex Save.
Fizzle Chance: (1d100)[29]

[PepperP.]

Rose

Moonboy down a hole, two of her allies netted, an unseen mage messing with her mind. Things were looking bad, but at least she could take Blue bandana boy with her on her way out.

Spoiler: Shank

Show

Damage
(1d4+7)[8]
(2d6)[4]

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action - Round 3

"Between the lightning and the stabbing, a half dozen of the enemy had fallen within seconds of each other. This appeared to be of some concern to the archer, though the mercenary seemed undeterred."

"Would you quit running!?" - "See? Totally undeterred."

The forest folk finally closed the gap with Roselyn and stabbed with her rapier, drawing blood. Haagen, up in the control booth, frowned at the small output of soliders and returned to the controls. "Only one? Fine, let's get started on something a little bigger, then." With a nod that sent his first mate out the door and onto the catwalk, he got back to work.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Navalan
Level 9 Shaman
HP 75/75 | AC: 21| Attack: -- | Status: Ant Haul (8 hours)

Starting a little as Morwen took down the constructs in a blitz of lightning, Navalan turned over his shoulder and shouted in congratulations.

"Good work!"

Turning his attention to the forest folk attacking Roselyn, Navalan brushed aside the net from the now-destroyed construct, stepped forward and, thrusting out a hand, channeled the ancient powers of his ancestors. A blazing light emanating from the mark on his forearm, a pre-Cataclysm symbol of family.

Ancestors, grant me the power to hex this woman with Misfortune!

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Navalan 5-steps and makes his first Hex of the game to curse the Forest Folk with Misfortune! The woman must make a DC 19 Will Save or hereafter take disadvantage (the lower of 2d20 rolls) on all ability checks, skill checks, saves, and attack rolls.

[Tychris1]

Watching the lightning surge forward Marquis let out a woop of excitement and clanged his sword against his shield. Rushing forward, he dashed around the various mechanical equipment in order to flank the Forest Folk mercenary, and raised the backside of his hand to slap her across the face.

"Dirty cannibal wench! Go back to your savage lands!"

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Move, provoke AoO (shield block if she takes it), and Touch of Corruption to Bestow Curse

Touch Attack:(1d20+15)[28]
Damage:(4d6)[18]

DC 18 Fort Save or suffer a -4 to all skill checks, saving throws, attacks, and ability checks!

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action - Round 3|4

"What? That doesn't even -" was all the forest folk got out before Marquis blasted her with negative energy. After a split second of weighing her options, she coughed. "Truce! Or surrender! Whichever you two prefer."

On the other side of the factory, Morwen's celebration of her own carnage was cut short when the factory activated again, searing the words "Made in Bal-Malvi" into the small of her back in an ancient dialect of Skytongue. Then the operator machine reached over and grabbed her with one giant fist - just hoisted her up with one arm - and examined her with a critical eye lens. (Sovereign) "Not to spec. Beginning disassembly."

Between them, the surviving clock man caught up to Navalan and fired a completely superfluous second net at him. The clock soldier, done with construction, raced forward to enter the battle. The bigger drama, however, was occurring to the north, where a number of automated arms had already begun assembling something... big.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Morwen takes 19 fire damage before resistance is applied and is grappled.
Navalan is now entangled by two nets and connected to one clock man.

[PepperP.]

Rose

Rose growled angrily at the forest folk. She would much rather plunge her daggers into the damned woman, but she knew time was not on their side.

"Fine! Make yourself useful then!" She grabbed a potion from her bag and ran off towards the Captain and the archer.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Draw a potion and hasted move 60ft.

[Othniel]

Morwen

Morwen's sudden elation gave way to searing pain, which in turn was quickly forgotten as she was scooped up by the large fist. "Ah, a little help here would be wonderful!" she shouted to the others. Then, with a snap of her fingers, she produced a potion from her magical glove and drank it down. To the side, Asteria, concerned for her friend's well-being and seeing her disappear after consuming the potion, quickly threw up an illusion of Morwen standing a few feet away in hopes that the construct would drop its prey.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free action to retrieve Potion of Desperate Escape from her Glove or Storing and a standard action to drink it. Heal for (1d8+1)[5]

Asteria is going to use her Silent Image SLA (DC 16) to place an image of Morwen not grappled in the square north of Morwen to attempt to trick the thing into dropping her, so she can withdraw.

[Nefarion Xid]

Lucien muttered about his undignified position before snapping up the obviously magical ring and gliding towards the ladder.

Spoiler: Fly!

Show

Moved 60 feet

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action - Round 4

"Useful... sure." Considering what she could do while hexed and cursed, the mercenary elected to out toward the center of the factory and begin climbing one of the construction dividers, apparently headed for the catwalk. Not too soon, either - the visible mage finally ran out of defensive spells and began his attack, starting with the basics. A few muttered syllables and a gesture sent four streaks of light sizzling through the air at Marquis. Though they did little damage, they did dance around his shield and all intervening obstacles.

In his booth, Haagen finished his drink and drew his rapier, content to watch the battle unfold and his new dragon's construction. Das, for his part, sped down one walkway and then took a flying leap to get down to the lower one.

[Tychris1]

"I'M COMING LADY MORWEN! HOLD FAST!" Marquis bellowed as he charge off after the giant mechanical monstrosity "SHORT WARRIOR! YOU HAVE MY WORD I SHALL KEEP YOUR TERMS OF SURRENDER SACRED AND INTACT!" He continued to roar as he danced his Fjodur Stal blade across the surface of the strange contraption, the magical longsword finding no easy purchase.

[Lord Of Mantas]

Navalan
Level 9 Shaman
HP 75/75 | AC: 21| Attack: -- | Status: Ant Haul (8 hours)

As Marquis and Roselyn forced the Forest Folk into submission, Navalan decided that she probably did not need any more of his attention.

What I really need to do is figure out a way to kill the captain before he finishes building that dragon.

Still entangled in the ropes, Navalan began to focus his powers, chanting a spell...

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Navalan casts Call Lightning! Because he is entangled, and because of the noise in the factory, Navalan must:
- Get higher than an 18 on his concentration check, and
- Succeed against a 10% chance that the spell will fail.

Concentration: (1d20+14)[31] vs 18
Failure: (1d100)[13] - Must get 11 or higher.

Casting Call Lightning takes 1 round.

[Jade_Tarem]

Enemy Action - Round 4|5

There construction golem took a close look at whatever was clutched in its hand, gears crushing down on Morwen. "No usable parts detected. Disposing." With that it casually hurled the mage over its shoulder and down one of the chutes.

The archer sighted in and finally hit Rose, though the armor took the worst of the damage. The same was not true for the clockwork soldier, who had elected to target the nearest opponent and moved up before delivering a vicious halberd strike.

[Othniel]

Morwen

Oh, no... The words formed on her lips as she dropped suddenly out of sight and landed hard on something sharp. Morwen placed a hand to her side as she groggily stood up, and decided she'd taken quite a bit of damage. Staggering in the direction she saw Lucien heading, she remained quiet. Better that way...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Stand up and move 30' toward stairs.

[Jade_Tarem]

All Action - Round 6|7|8

Morwen's misfortune, and a heavy blow the clock-soldier landed in passing on Roselyn, was the last to befall the group, however. As the battle raged and the vault broke down above and below, Lucien swept across the dark debris and up the exit hatch. Gliding into the control booth, he exchanged - very briefly - a flurry of strikes, parries, and ripostes with Captain Haagen...

...and then one of them was a hundred plus year-old Rune Knight Lunarian Prince and the other was a glorified buccaneer. A strike too fast to see, and possibly too fast to conform to the laws of momentum, shot past Haagen's guard and a moment later the thin blade of Sliver of Eternity was through his heart. Incredibly, from having chugged multiple magic potions while the conflict raged beneath him, it looked as though Haagen might somehow continue fighting, and then the control booth flashed and ozone filled the air as Lucien's spell discharged. The last thing the captain saw as he fell back against the controls, too badly cauterized to even bleed all over them properly, was the shutoff switch for the entire factory floor being uncovered, doubtlessly by an unseen enemy, and the massive black-armored knight climbing up as well. It was clear that the battle could only have gone one way.

Still he remained defiant. "You haven't..." he wheezed, "seen the last... of Captain Haaaaaageeeeennnnnn..."

NOW

"Which is false, by the way." The Captain, no relation to the dead one in the story, waved airily with her free hand and Sir Bastian nodded. "That was the last anyone heard from Captain Haagen."

THEN

The battle was in many ways done at that moment. Lacking construct backup, the remaining pirates fell apart quickly. The two on the catwalk fell to the mercenary, the invisible seductress had long since fled, and the archer promptly soiled himself and surrendered when Lucien whirled and put the point of his blade through his bow, badly damaging it. As he stammered out apologies in demands with the prince's orders, Rose finished the shutdown procedure, halting the factory. The conveyors stopped conveying, the pressers stopped pressing, the lasers stopped firing, and there were no more bots in production.

And then there was silence. In the wake of the roar of machines and the screams and explosions of battle, it seemed almost obscene. The few remaining clock men had shut down when the confusion in the control room began, winding all the way down in a matter of seconds.

Spoiler: Morwen

Show

Being below deck, as it were, you see that the plinth emerging from the bottom of the Maverick Vault has not shut down. Its condition also doesn't seem to be improving.

[Tychris1]

Watching the captain promptly become char-broiled, Marquis held up his semi-translucent shield to protect himself, and let out a cry of excitement as the battle reached its climax. Banishing his tower shield, Marquis walked over to the Lunarian Prince and pulled out his healing wand.

"You look hurt my friend. Quickly, lets convene with the others and lick our wounds. Bowman, you have my word your surrender will be honored by me."

[Nefarion Xid]

Lucien spared a moment to sigh and look down at the fallen captain. Violence meant he had failed. In killing a man, he had failed twice over. At least, his mother had assured him that it was a quick way to die. Excruciating, but very brief.

Meanwhile, his heirloom blade sizzled itself clean with arcs of blue energy before once again going dark.

"I did encourage him to skip this part," he said slowly, glancing to Marquis with a troubled expression. "I specifically said I wished to avoid running anyone through."

[Tychris1]

"You know how criminals are. Always resorting to violence or the easy way out. It is the path of all ruffians and dishonorable ne'er dowels."

[Othniel]

Morwen

Finally climbing the stairs up to the main level, Morwen basked in the silence for a moment and mentally rejoiced at finding her new companions all alive. "I am glad to see you all alive, but there are two important things I must tell you: That plinth is still moving upward, and I've also detected the auras of several magical items buried down below. Would anyone like to assist me in retrieving them before something awful happens?"